Pocono summer kicks off with almost perfect weather

The longest day of the year will bring with it warm — but not overly hot — weather to the Poconos this weekend.

Staff report

The longest day of the year will bring with it warm — but not overly hot — weather to the Poconos this weekend.

The first official day of summer — the summer solstice — is today, and it will be partly sunny with a high near 78, according to the National Weather Service.

Sunday is expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 82.

Rain and thunderstorms in the central and southern states aren't expected to reach far enough to affect the Poconos, according to AccuWeather.com, although there will be some clouds as the weather system bulges to the north.

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, thanks to the tilt of the earth's axis and the earth's revolution around the sun.

According to The Weather Channel, during the summer, the northern hemisphere receives the most sunlight because it is tilted toward the sun. On June 21, the sun's rays will be directly over the Tropic of Cancer, and areas farther north of that latitude line will see the longest amount of sunlight in a single day.